Freckle

"G" has a big freckle on the back of his leg just below his calf. Every time I change his diaper I think he has a spot of poop on his leg. It’s just the right colour. Even though I know it’s not poop, there’s always a startling moment, a brief instant where my heart jumps and my brain calculates where else the poop might be, like all down his legs or on my hands. Then it registers. That’s not poop, it’s a freckle. This all happens in a fraction of a fraction of a millisecond. Every time! Why am I fooled by a freckle several times a day? So I remind myself that my son has a poop-like freckle and I will not be fooled next time around. No sir. And then next time I change his diaper, “Aww crap (literally)! Not again. Wait. It’s his freckle.”